The Right Tool for Your Association

Over half the associations surveyed in the 2011 MGI Benchmarking Report are using public social media. Facebook is the most popular (91%), followed by Twitter (71%) and Public LinkedIn(59%). Less than half use YouTube(45%) and Members Only LinkedIn (28%). Blogs (27%) and Listservs are declining in use with ListServ’s declining from almost one in three in 2010 (31%) to less than one in four (24%) in 2011.

 

MGI’s analysis shows that associations showing an increase in membership and renewals are significantly more likely to use an association blog (despite their declining use) and a private association social network. That bodes well for the future of private association social networks such as AssociCom but at the present time only 18% of the associations surveyed are using a private network. That is up a bit from 2010 (17%) but on balance it appears that associations are trying to figure out which social media tools work for them. 

 

In this short video clip from an AssociCom show, Murray and Terry concisely capture some of the main differentiators between public and private online media. It’s worth watching for any association staff faced with trying to decide the right tool for the job.